Kumamoto: A New Type of Experience

From Beppu we caught a train to the city of Kumamoto. For some reason I had it in my head that it was a little small city off the beaten path; a castle, one of my favorite authors former homes, and some traditional architecture. I was wrong. Kumamoto is a bustling city with plenty of big buildings, bridges, restaurants, etc. We arrived at the train station and from there called our hostel to find directions. For the first time during our trip, English was more useful than Japanese in communication with hostel staff. Why? The man in question was an American from California, and he and his Japanese wife ran the hostel out of their home in a neighborhood not far from the train station.

We had stayed in many different hostels (and even a business hotel) during our travels, but this was our first "homely" experience. Literally, the second floor of their home. They had a son, a dog, and a refrigerator covered with crayon drawings. It was a night to remember. After we settled in that night, we took a walk to Kumamoto Castle to see what it was like. I was very impressed, it was very big and played an important part in Japanese history. From there we headed back to the hostel to sleep, wake up, and head back to the castle the next day so that we could go inside and see all of the old armaments and architecture. The view from the top floor was amazing and you could see most of the city from there.

After our adventure at the castle, we gathered our belongings and took a bus to ride a ferry from Kumamoto to Nagasaki. The ferry was free because of the bus pass we bought for around $80, and it was a smooth forty-minute ride all the way to Nagasaki Prefecture. The inside of the ferry had everything you could want, a snack bar, comfortable furniture, a deck where people (including myself) fed Sky Rats, and tv's with Olympic coverage. What a trip it was.